Ground and water set the life of a slab. San Bernardino is built on sloping fans of sand, gravel and cobbles below the mountains. That soil carries weight well when compacted and erodes easily when water gets under a slab. Winter storms can be short and intense. Lay out drainage first.
Do I need to worry about drainage?
You do, before anything else is chosen. Every slab needs fall so water leaves it and heads away from walls and footings. Trace where the roof drains, where sprinklers overspray and where water from the uphill neighbor arrives. Much of the city slopes north to south, so runoff has speed. A channel drain, a swale or piped downspouts are often part of a good job.
My patio or driveway slopes toward the house. Is there a fix?
There is. Water running toward the house or toward the garage has to be intercepted or the slope reversed. From least to most work: saw in a channel drain along the wall, raise the low side of a sound slab, or tear out and repour with correct fall. Drains only work when kept free of leaves and silt. For a slab that was just poured wrong, write to the contractor.
Can tree roots crack or lift concrete?
They can and they do. Tree roots thicken every year and jack up whatever lies over them. The older blocks near downtown San Bernardino, and streets in Redlands and Riverside, have large mature trees close to walks and drives. Look for a hump or an opened joint aimed at the trunk.
Can I fix the concrete and keep the tree?
Frequently you can keep the tree. Choices include shaving the raised lip, repouring the panel thicker with steel and a gap over the root, ramping or bending the walk around the trunk, or switching that stretch to pavers. Severing big roots near the trunk risks killing the tree or tipping it in the next windstorm, so get a certified arborist's view first. Roots of a city parkway tree are not yours to cut; contact Public Works.
My neighbor's new concrete sends runoff onto my property. What are my options?
Begin with a conversation, ideally while it is raining or with a hose running, and take dated photos of the runoff. A strip drain or a low curb on the neighbor's side normally ends the problem. Where that fails, the general principle is that an owner should not redirect surface water onto a neighbor so as to cause damage, but applying it to your facts is work for an attorney. This is general information, not legal advice. Our own slabs are pitched to drain on the owner's land.
Does clay or soft soil change the job?
It does. Clay or soft soil calls for a deeper base and more reinforcement. Heavy clay is not the norm here; sand and gravel are. Pockets of finer, tighter soil do turn up, particularly on lower ground and on some older terraces, and loose builder's fill is common in tracts. We have not tested your lot, so the excavation tells us. Soft material is removed to firm ground or rebuilt in compacted lifts. For building slabs on doubtful ground an engineer makes the call, and parts of the valley floor are mapped for liquefaction, which the building department checks.
My gravel driveway is mud every winter. Would concrete solve it?
It would, once the base is rebuilt. A gravel driveway goes to mud when fine soil pumps up through the rock or storm water crosses it. Concrete placed straight on that would fail. We would strip the soft layer, compact new base rock and pitch the slab so storm water runs off to a safe outlet. To stay with gravel, lay geotextile fabric beneath fresh rock.
A patio was poured over an uncompacted trench and has settled. What should happen?
The trench needs repair, not only the surface. Backfill in a sewer, gas or irrigation trench goes on settling for years unless placed in compacted layers, and loose sand is especially prone. Lifting an unbroken slab may level it for a time. The durable repair is to saw out the strip, recompact the trench and repour it doweled into both sides. If the same contractor dug and poured, take it up with them.
Should a patio or slab be raised in a flood-prone area?
Sometimes, but get the rules before the fill. Land near the Santa Ana River, Lytle Creek, Cajon Wash and the creeks coming off the foothills can lie in a mapped flood zone, and below a recent burn scar, mud and debris flows are a known hazard. In a flood zone the floodplain administrator can restrict fill, slab elevation and anything that obstructs flow. Check your address on the FEMA flood map and speak with the building department. Water does not hurt concrete. Scour under the edges does, so edges are deepened and outlets planned.
Do earthquakes matter for a driveway or patio in San Bernardino?
A little, and far more for structures. The San Andreas fault runs along the base of the mountains and the San Jacinto fault crosses the valley, so the building code here demands seismic design for foundations, building slabs and taller retaining walls, enforced through permits. Flatwork simply rides on the ground. Rebar, sensible joint spacing and isolation from the house help it stay in usable pieces. No slab is earthquake-proof, and we make no such claim.
For a real number, have the job measured. Estimates are free, done on site, and followed by a written quote. Call (909) 306-5897 or text a photo of the area.